A receipt from an eatery shows a patron ordering several alcoholic beverages. The next day the same customer has been involved with a serious accident. The receipt is crucial to attorneys investigating potential legal liability of dram shops. However, it isn’t a guarantee whether the establishment served an intoxicated customer or if employees did not comply with the appropriate procedure. What transpired during the time between drinks orders might be more relevant.
To fully comprehend this sequence it is crucial to understand alcohol service as a hospitality process and not simply count beverages at the end of an event.
A Receipt Records a Sale, Not a Customer’s Condition
The record of the point-of-sale is used to identify when the transaction occurred, what beverages were purchased, and what charges are allocated to the tab.
The receipt will not reveal the behavior of a person when served an alcohol drink. The receipt will not disclose the individual who drank each drink, if drinks were shared, and what the bartender observed.
An expert witness who is qualified will help attorneys interpret the records and also the video surveillance, witness testimony of employees as well as any other evidence available. It is essential to reconstruct the entire sequence of services without assuming every purchase will tell the entire story.
What are the things employees can actually observe?
The most important issue in disputes over alcohol-related service is whether staff could have had plausible grounds to conclude that the person was drunk. Relevant observations might include impaired coordination, speech that is unusual difficulties, balance issues or observable changes in behavior.
However, these indicators require context. The actions recorded on video surveillance may not be a result of alcohol. Investigators should also take into consideration camera angles, recording quality as well as the positions of employees, and whether particular behavior would be visible to the staff.
Preston Rideout brings experience as Bar manager, bartender, nightclub general manager, and director of operations for bars to these evaluations. His experience in operations helps him link recorded evidence to the duties and limitations of staff who work in busy areas of hospitality.
Written Training Doesn’t Always Describe Real Practice
The majority of alcohol-related investigation concentrate on preparation for employees. Did the establishment provide seller-server training? Did the establishment instruct employees to spot signs of intoxication? Management explained the procedures for refusing to provide additional services?
These questions are central to Responsible alcohol service, but reviewing training certificates alone may not answer them.
It is possible for a place to have comprehensive policies but not consistently implement them. Employees may have adhered to recognized service practices even if the end result was disastrous.
An operational review examines training materials and employee testimony. It also takes into account management oversight as well as any actions that are documented during the incident. It is important for both the defense and plaintiffs to distinguish between the existence of policy and the way it is implemented.
Timeline can reveal important questions
Think about a person who has received drinks from bartenders of different bars during an event that is crowded. It is possible that the first employee was observing a typical manner of conduct. A bartender in a different location might have served a second drink after an alteration in shift. Then, a manager could have intervened.
If you don’t reconstruct the timeline, those decisions can appear to be a continuous act of service. Examining the transaction records, staffing schedules surveillance footage, incident reports together can aid in determining who was aware of what and when. It’s best to find out if there are any missing documents or footage rather than speculating.
Industry Practice and Legal Liability Are Different Questions
Professionals in hospitality can provide explanations and assess whether a place is following recognized operating procedures.
These laws do not replace the ability of a judge to determine legal responsibility. There are distinct laws in each state concerning the legal responsibility of alcohol retailers.
Rideout Hospitality Consulting assists plaintiff and defendant lawyers across the United States with review of the case, analysis of operations, written opinions and depositions. Its services focus on alcohol-related decision-making and staff training.
The most powerful analysis explains why the evidence cannot show
An alcohol-related incident can have devastating consequences, but the severity of the event is not able to establish the exact date of the incident.
Attorneys must be aware of the documents available, the limitations of the records and the manner in which employees were expected work under the circumstances.
A thorough analysis of hospitality can separate documented actions from the assumed behavior and identify which practices of the place are aligned or deviated from accepted standards. This distinction allows courts to evaluate the actual events rather than relying solely on the information that was released afterward.
